Vishal Kennedy | Data-Driven Policy • Measurement, Causal Analysis & Analytics

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SUMMARY

Data scientist specializing in quantitative measurement, policy evaluation, and external reporting. Six years of quantitative research experience using Python, R, and SQL across federal, administrative, and behavioral datasets, producing national-scale evidence for federal agencies and NGO partners, and briefing agency leadership directly.

Works in environments where ambiguity is expected. Good policy questions rarely arrive with perfect datasets or clean experimental settings; they require judgment, careful measurement, causal reasoning, and the ability to explain uncertainty without losing clarity.

Knoxville, TN • Open to NYC, SF, or DCvkenned2@vols.utk.edu 865-398-5720 LinkedIn GitHub

CORE COMPETENCIES

Policy impact evaluationQuasi-experimental design & matching estimatorsMetric definition & benchmark constructionMeasurement frameworks for public-affairs campaignsReporting pipelines, dashboards & discrepancy controlEnvironmental compliance & audit reporting standardsRegulatory landscape analysisScenario analysis under uncertaintyProgram & project managementExecutive briefing

RELEVANT TECHNICAL SKILLS

Languages & Tools

Python (pandas, NumPy, statsmodels, scikit-learn, PyTorch), R (tidyverse, sf, lme4), SQL, Git and GitHub, JavaScript and Node.js, STATA, advanced Excel.

Statistics & Causal Inference

Matching estimators on observational data, counterfactual and null-model benchmarking, variance decomposition, regression (linear, log-log, GLM, mixed-effects), concentration and inequality metrics (Gini, Lorenz, HHI, Pielou), longitudinal cohort analysis, scenario projection, power analysis, uncertainty quantification.

Data, Reporting & Applied AI

Large public, federal, and administrative datasets; automated QA and consistency checks; reproducible notebooks and reporting pipelines; Tableau, Power BI, ArcGIS, QGIS. LLM APIs and elicitation design; shipped a full-stack Node/Express agent on the Gemini API; autoencoder computer-vision pipelines at ORNL.

RECENTLY IN THE NEWS

National Press Highlight.

Featured coverage highlighting research at the intersection of data mapping, conservation science, and climate policy.

Vishal Kennedy conducting field research in a mountainous landscape.

National Wildlife Magazine

Courtesy of Vishal Kennedy

RECENTLY IN THE NEWSNational Wildlife Federation

Vishal Kennedy Is Mapping the Future

The former NWF EcoLeaders fellow uses data to model conservation and climate outlooks

By Delaney McPherson•June 24, 2026

Featured by National Wildlife magazine for applying data mapping, conservation science, and environmental policy to questions shaping the future of protected ecosystems and wildlife.

Read the National Wildlife Feature

Track Record & Projects

Professional Experience.

Quantitative research, causal analysis, national reporting pipelines, and evidence-based policy for federal agencies and NGO partners.

University of Tennessee, Armsworth LabAug 2022 – Present

Graduate Research Scientist (NSF Funded)

Knoxville, TNNational Policy Performance & Benchmarking

210 Categories Nationwide & 4 Federal Data Sources

Determined which metric faithfully represents national policy performance to external audiences: proved the headline statistic in widest official use systematically overstates it, and designed the proportional-parity benchmark replacing it across 210 classification categories nationwide.
Quantified how metric definition drives externally reported results: the permissive tier supplies 70% of the headline number, and a published policy target appears met for 63% of units under the loose definition against 19% under the strict one. Exactly the discrepancy risk that surfaces when a figure is shared publicly without its definition.
Audited a widely cited published result and proved its reported intercept and crossover point were algebraic identities rather than empirical findings, retracting an inference that had already propagated into downstream policy debate.
Own the Python and R pipelines and partner-facing reporting tables reconciling four heterogeneous federal data sources with automated QA, so every externally reported figure traces to source; reproduced all 21 published statistics from the prior national assessment as a validation gate. Sole technical lead on federal and NGO partners.
Measured policy impact from observational data with a matching design: 174 matched clusters across two reporting vintages, benchmarked against null-model counterfactuals, with variance decomposition isolating where the national reporting bias originated.
Built a multi-jurisdiction burden-attribution model from scenario-based projection across 13 state jurisdictions and 270 tracked units, combining simulation and network analysis with concentration (HHI) and evenness (Pielou) indices to quantify where policy impacts cross regulatory boundaries no single authority spans.

Proportional-Parity BenchmarkPython & R PipelinesAutomated QA ValidationMatching EstimatorsVariance DecompositionMulti-Jurisdiction AttributionHHI & Pielou IndicesUSGS & NatureServe

U.S. Biosphere Network2025 – Present

National Policy Board Member (Youth Seat)

Washington, DC / NationalNational Policy Board

National Gap Analysis & Federal Briefings

Authored the national gap analysis behind the Network’s policy position and briefed senior federal agency leaders, a federal climate science center, and UNESCO working groups on national target performance.
Translate quantitative findings into policy positions agency and international stakeholders act on, for audiences with no statistical background.

National Gap AnalysisExecutive BriefingFederal Agency LeadershipUNESCO Working GroupsPolicy Translation

National Wildlife FederationMay 2025 – Oct. 2025

EcoLeaders Graduate Research Fellow and Platform Strategist

Reston, VA / RemotePlatform Analytics & Strategy

+283% Engagement Increase & Executive Roadmap

Reconstructed several prior years of platform user-analytics records into a consistent cohort panel, then ran longitudinal behavioral analysis to isolate which onboarding and retention actions actually moved engagement, and rebuilt the funnel around them: 283% engagement increase over the prior cycle.
Built and maintained the recurring dashboards that made engagement, onboarding, and retention legible to staff and external partners, defining the underlying metrics and instrumentation so reported figures stayed consistent across cycles.
Specified enterprise API integrations with platform engineers and delivered an executive-adopted 6–12 month roadmap, pairing qualitative stakeholder research with platform telemetry to validate findings before they reached external reporting.

Longitudinal Behavioral AnalysisCohort Panel Reconstruction+283% EngagementRecurring DashboardsEnterprise API IntegrationsTelemetry & Roadmapping

Perplexity AIJan. 2025 – Oct. 2025

Campus Strategist and Training Program Lead

Knoxville, TN / RemoteAI Enablement & Curriculum

500+ Researchers, Faculty & Staff Trained

Built and delivered a technical AI-literacy curriculum to 500+ researchers, faculty, and staff, covering structured prompting, literature-synthesis workflows, and source-verification methods; mentored a cross-departmental network of student AI champions.
Built AI-assisted workflows aggregating news, literature, and public sources into verified briefs; drafted department-adopted responsible-use guidelines and ran feedback cycles between users and product engineering across fast release windows.

Technical AI-Literacy500+ ResearchersStructured PromptingLiterature-SynthesisResponsible AI GuidelinesUser Feedback Loops

Baker School Audit Workshop · Environmental Law Organization2024 – Present

Regulatory Analysis and Disclosure Standards Specialist

Knoxville, TNEMS & Regulatory Standards

ISO 14001 Audit & EPA Disclosure Standards

Track and analyze state and federal energy and land-use policy: EV infrastructure, utility incentives, clean energy standards, and siting compliance; co-authored a regulatory comment letter on a contested federal permitting decision.
Apply ISO 14001 audit and U.S. EPA disclosure-reporting standards to analytical documentation, holding externally filed figures to audit-trail consistency.

Regulatory AnalysisISO 14001 Lead AuditorEPA Disclosure StandardsClean Energy & EV PolicyPublic Comment Letter

Independent Analysis & Academic Collaborations2024 – 2026

Policy Impact, Open Analysis & Peer-Reviewed Research

National / Open SourceSelected Policy Impact

AI Adoption Parity Index · IALE Keynote 2026

AI adoption parity index (2026): Open analysis measuring state-level AI adoption against AI-exposed employment rather than population, using the Anthropic Economic Index, BLS OES, and O*NET, with Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients on raw and exposure-adjusted distributions (`github.com/vkenned2/Anthropic_ai-adoption-parity-index`).
Written for external audiences: Federal regulatory analysis of statutory authority, compliance standards, and multi-party co-management – policy memorandum, National Wildlife Federation, third place, national · co-authored public comment letter on a contested federal permitting decision · open-access guides on converting analytical results into federal regulatory comment (2024–2026).
Peer reviewed: Kennedy, V., Armsworth, P. R., et al. Distributional measurement of national policy target attainment across governance tiers. In preparation, *Conservation Science & Practice*. Presented at IALE North America (keynote, 2026), U.S. Biosphere Network, Washington DC (2026), and a federal climate adaptation science center (2025).

AI Adoption Parity IndexAnthropic Economic IndexBLS OES & O*NETGini & Lorenz AnalysisNWF Policy Memo (3rd Place)IALE Keynote 2026

Oak Ridge National Lab & Google Competition2024

Applied AI Systems & Computer Vision Engineering

Oak Ridge, TN / GlobalML Publication & Full-Stack App

Peer-Reviewed ML Paper & Gemini Agent

Co-developed ML pipelines automating Transmission Electron Microscopy analysis with a four-university team (Penn State, NYU, Purdue, UTK); used autoencoders to surface nanoparticle-geometry correlations, published in *Machine Learning: Science and Technology* (DOI: 10.1088/2632-2153/ae1f5d).
Designed and shipped a full-stack Node.js/Express conversational agent on the Google Gemini API, incorporating dynamic elicitation design and intent-conditioned queries.

Python & PyTorchAutoencodersComputer VisionORNL HackathonGoogle Gemini APINode.js & Express

Manipal Centre for Natural Sciences · University of Western AustraliaJun. 2021 – Aug. 2022

Research Scientist; Summer Research Intern

India / AustraliaQuantitative Research & Screening Pipelines

+30% Screening Throughput & SDG Modeling

Applied geospatial and statistical modeling to evaluate environmental program performance against UN Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action) and 15 (Life on Land).
Analyzed experimental phenotypic and genomic screening data for government-funded program on crop resilience to disease and climate stress (input-side risk in agricultural supply chains), optimizing pipeline throughput by 30%.

Supply Chain RiskThroughput OptimizationData PipelinesUN SDGsGeospatial Modeling

The University of Tennessee & IISER KolkataAug. 2016 – May 2027 (exp.)

Ph.D. Researcher & Graduate Scholar (Candidacy Passed May 2026)

Knoxville, TN & Kolkata, IndiaEducation & Governance

Ph.D. Candidacy Passed (May 2026) · Baker School Policy Training

The University of Tennessee (Ph.D., Ecology · Research focus: data-driven decision making and policy | Aug. 2022 – May 2027 expected): Dissertation on quantitative evaluation of national policy target performance – metric design, benchmark construction, and distributional measurement across federal administrative data. Developed with USGS, funded by NSF. Candidacy exam passed May 2026. Graduate policy training at Baker School: Administrative and Regulatory Policy, Public Policy Process, Public Management, Biometry.
IISER Kolkata (Integrated B.S. and M.S. in Ecology and Environmental Biology | Aug. 2016 – Aug. 2021): Master's thesis research from 2020. Top 1% National INSPIRE Scholar. Elected General Secretary, Student Affairs Council: managed budgets and operations for a 4,000+ member organization.

Ph.D. Candidacy (May 2026)Baker School Policy TrainingUSGS & NSF FundedIISER Kolkata B.S.-M.S.INSPIRE ScholarSAC General Secretary

Pedagogy & Leadership

Teaching & Mentoring Experience.

Empowering students and early-career researchers through evidence-based STEM instruction, computational workshops, and inclusive academic mentorship.

1,400+

Undergraduates Taught Across Biology Labs

500+

Researchers & Faculty Trained in AI

CIRTL

Practitioner Certified in STEM Pedagogy

1-on-1

Undergrad & Youth Policy Mentorship

Vishal Kennedy lecturing on species richness, functional diversity, and ecological data in a university auditorium

Large-Format Classroom Instruction

STEM Pedagogy & Laboratory Sections

Evidence-Based Classroom Teaching

Division of Biology · BIOL 159 & BioLit 150 · University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Instructing undergraduates in experimental hypothesis testing, statistical modeling in R/Python, and scientific writing with CIRTL Practitioner certified active-learning frameworks.

Vishal Kennedy mentoring undergraduate researcher at EUReCA poster presentation

1-on-1 Research Mentorship & Symposia

EUReCA & Research Coaching

Undergraduate Research Mentorship

Armsworth Lab & National Wildlife Federation EcoLeaders

Coaching undergraduate mentees in spatial connectivity modeling (Circuitscape), manuscript drafting, EUReCA poster exhibitions, and national sustainability policy fellowships.

2021 - Present1,400+ Undergraduates Taught

Graduate Teaching Assistant & Laboratory Instructor

Division of Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville • Knoxville, TN

Instruct lab sections for BIOL 159 (Skills of Biological Investigation) and BioLit 150 (Biological Literacy).
Guide students through hypothesis formulation, experimental design, and data analysis in R and Python.
Apply CIRTL Practitioner methods (active learning, inclusive design) to every lab section.
Give detailed feedback on empirical papers and facilitate collaborative scientific discussion.

STEM PedagogyCIRTL Practitioner CertifiedBIOL 159 & 150R & Python DataLab Instruction

Jan 2025 – Oct 2025500+ Researchers, Faculty & Staff Trained

Campus Strategist and Training Program Lead

Perplexity AI • Knoxville, TN / Remote

Built and delivered a technical AI-literacy curriculum to 500+ researchers, faculty, and staff, covering structured prompting, literature-synthesis workflows, and source-verification methods.
Mentored a cross-departmental network of student AI champions.
Built AI-assisted workflows aggregating news, literature, and public sources into verified briefs.
Drafted department-adopted responsible-use guidelines and ran structured feedback cycles between users and product engineering across fast release windows.

Technical AI-Literacy500+ ResearchersStructured PromptingLiterature-SynthesisResponsible AI GovernanceFeedback Cycles

2022 - Present1-on-1 Research & Career Mentorship

Undergraduate Spatial Ecology Research Mentor

Armsworth Lab, UT Knoxville • Knoxville, TN

Mentor undergraduates in spatial connectivity modeling (Circuitscape), remote sensing, and GIS processing.
Coach students to present poster research at UTK's EUReCA exhibition.
Advise mentees on NSF REU applications, grad-school statements, and manuscript drafting.
Host weekly code-review sessions teaching reproducible R and Python workflows.

Spatial ModelingEUReCA MentorGIS/R TrainingNSF REU PrepCode Review

2024 - 2025National Student Policy Mentorship

NWF EcoLeaders Youth Leadership & Community Mentor

National Wildlife Federation • Reston, VA / Remote

Mentored youth leaders nationwide on policy writing, advocacy, and community outreach.
Ran peer-review and coaching sessions for national policy memos on Clean Water Act and tribal co-management.
Evaluated capstone projects for national sustainability-badge credentials.

Youth LeadershipPolicy MentorshipClean Water ActCommunity Engagement

2021 - PresentPublic K-12 & Community Outreach

Public Science Communicator & Museum Educator

McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture • Knoxville, TN

Curate interactive biodiversity and genetics stations for McClung Museum's annual Darwin's Day.
Translate ecological datasets and specimen collections for K-12 students, teachers, and visitors.
Design hands-on activities linking Appalachian biodiversity to climate conservation.

Darwin's DayPublic CommunicationMuseum EducationK-12 Science

2024 - 2026Practitioner Training Workshops

Appalachian Environmental Policy Workshop Leader

Appalachian Public Interest Environmental Law (APIEL) • Knoxville, TN

Lead practitioner workshops teaching advocates to turn spatial ecological data into federal comment letters.
Authored open-access reference guides for translating GIS data into environmental law and policy.

Policy WorkshopsGIS TranslationEnvironmental AdvocacyAPIEL Conference

Courses Instructed & Workshops

BIOL 159Laboratory Instructor

Skills of Biological Investigation

Hands-on laboratory course introducing undergraduates to experimental design, statistical hypothesis testing, data visualization in R/Python, and scientific reporting.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

BioLit 150Graduate Teaching Assistant

Biological Literacy & Synthesis

Foundational course focusing on critical evaluation of primary scientific literature, research synthesis, peer review, and scientific writing.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

AI-101Workshop Creator & Leader

AI Workflows for Academic Research

Campus-wide workshop series covering computational research synthesis, advanced prompt engineering, source verification, and transparent AI integration.

Perplexity AI & UT Knoxville

GIS-POLPractitioner Workshop Leader

Spatial Ecological Data in Environmental Policy

Specialized training on translating species movement models and spatial GIS layers into federal public comment letters and legal briefs.

APIEL Conference

Pedagogical Training

CIRTL Practitioner Certification2024

Center for Integration of Research, Teaching & Learning

Evidence-Based STEM Teaching2023

CIRTL Network / UTK Graduate School

Inclusive Pedagogy & Active Learning2023

UTK Teaching & Learning Innovation

AI Literacy & Prompt Architecture2025

Anthropic / Perplexity

Pedagogical Philosophy

“Good STEM teaching pairs technical precision with inclusive, inquiry-driven mentorship. My aim is to give students the computational tools, scientific literacy, and confidence to drive real conservation impact.”

Recognition & Credentials

Awards, Honors & Certifications.

National fellowships, policy awards, professional certifications, and selected keynote presentations.

Honors & Fellowships

Elected Leadership2026

Elected Student Representative, Executive Committee

IALE North America (International Association for Landscape Ecology)

Elected to the Executive Committee to represent student and early-career researchers across North American landscape ecology and policy.

Fellowship Honor2026

William Byrne-Hartz Fellowship

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Highest-honor graduate fellowship awarded for outstanding quantitative environmental research and policy impact.

National Award2026

Real Brown Award

Ecological Society of America (ESA)

Recognizing excellence in wildlife ecology, quantitative spatial modeling, and ecosystem protection.

Policy Honor2026

Tom Gilbert Award

Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs

Awarded for impactful public policy research bridging data-driven quantitative modeling with federal decision-making.

National Fellowship2025

EcoLeaders Graduate Research Fellowship

National Wildlife Federation (NWF)

National fellowship leading platform analytics, longitudinal behavioral analysis, and enterprise digital strategy (+283% engagement increase).

3rd Place National2023

Third Place Winner, National Innovative Policy Memo Contest

National Wildlife Federation

National award for federal regulatory analysis of statutory authority, compliance standards, and multi-party co-management under the Clean Water Act.

Top 1% National Merit2016–2021

INSPIRE Fellowship (Top 1% National Merit)

Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India

Prestigious 5-year fellowship awarded to students ranking in the top 1% nationwide for scientific excellence during integrated B.S.-M.S.

Professional Certifications

ISO 14001 Lead Auditor

Audit Workshop / Exemplar Global Standards

2025–2026

EPA Regulatory Training (CAA, CWA, RCRA)

U.S. EPA / Baker School Regulatory Frameworks

2025

Project Management Certification

Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy

2025–2026

GIS & Remote Sensing Certification

Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (ISRO)

2023

CIRTL Practitioner (Evidence-Based Instruction)

Center for Integration of Research, Teaching & Learning

2024

Administrative & Regulatory Policy Training

Baker School of Public Policy & Public Affairs

2024–2025

Keynote & Presentations

Keynote Address2026

Distributional Measurement of National Policy Target Attainment Across Governance Tiers

IALE North America Annual Meeting • Keynote Presentation

Executive Briefing2026

National Gap Analysis & Policy Target Performance Briefing

U.S. Biosphere Network & UNESCO Working Groups • Washington, DC

Agency Briefing2025

Observational Matching & Climate Adaptation Performance

Federal Climate Adaptation Science Center • Regional Science Briefing

Practitioner Workshop2024–2026

Converting Analytical Results into Federal Regulatory Comment

Appalachian Public Interest Environmental Law Conference • Knoxville, TN

Case Studies & Research

Selected Works.

A curated selection of quantitative evaluations, policy analyses, behavioral analytics, and applied AI systems.

Open Analysis & Causal Metrics2026

AI Adoption Parity Index & Exposure-Adjusted Distributions

Open analysis measuring state-level AI adoption against AI-exposed employment rather than population using Anthropic Economic Index, BLS OES, and O*NET.

Anthropic IndexBLS OESO*NETGini & LorenzPython & R

Corporate Systems & ESG Analytics2026

NIKE, Inc. Systems Analysis & Sustainability Audit

Systems analysis of NIKE, Inc. sustainability disclosures (FY20–FY25) across 6 connected views with restated-vs-original basis toggle and chart provenance.

Plotly.jsSystems AuditScope 1–3 TelemetryDual-Basis ToggleESG Analytics

Policy Performance & Measurement2022–Present

National Policy Performance & Proportional-Parity Benchmark

Proved official headline metric systematically overstates performance; designed proportional-parity benchmark across 210 categories and reconciled 4 federal data sources.

PAD-USNatureServeProportional ParityAutomated QAUSGS & NSF

Causal Inference & Attribution2024–2026

Observational Matching & Multi-Jurisdiction Attribution

Matching design on observational data (174 matched clusters, null models) and trans-boundary attribution (HHI, Pielou indices across 13 states / 270 units).

Matching EstimatorsNull ModelsHHI & PielouIALE Keynote 2026Python & R

Behavioral Analytics & Strategy2025

NWF EcoLeaders Platform Strategy & Behavioral Analytics

Reconstructed multi-year cohort panel, ran longitudinal behavioral analysis (+283% engagement increase), recurring dashboards, and enterprise API roadmap.

Cohort AnalysisLongitudinal TelemetryRecurring Dashboards+283% EngagementPersonify API

Regulatory Analysis & Policy2023–Present

Federal Regulatory Analysis, Compliance & Policy Impact

Federal regulatory analysis of statutory authority (3rd place national, NWF), contested permitting comment letters, and open-access guides on regulatory comments.

Clean Water ActISO 14001 AuditEPA StandardsRegulatory CommentsNWF 3rd Place

Applied AI & Machine Learning2024–2025

Applied AI Systems, Technical Enablement & ML Pipelines

Autoencoder computer vision pipeline (ORNL publication in IOP), Gemini full-stack agent, and AI-literacy curriculum for 500+ researchers at Perplexity AI.

Python & PyTorchGoogle Gemini APIComputer VisionORNL PublicationPerplexity AI

Get In Touchvkenned2@vols.utk.edu

LinkedIn•GitHub•Google Scholar•Download Resume (PDF)